LAHORE: Azam Chaudhry, who serves as the President of the Lahore Press Club (LPC) and works as an analyst for PTV, alleges that he was terminated from his position on the exact day he posed a difficult question to the Prime Minister regarding the constraints of free media.
A journalist has made an allegation that he was fired from Pakistan Television (PTV), a state-owned broadcasting network, after posing a critical question to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the shrinking space for independent media in the country.
According to Azam Chaudhry, who serves as the President of the Lahore Press Club (LPC) and works as an analyst for PTV, he was dismissed on the same day he asked the challenging question to the Prime Minister. However, he has not received any written notification from his employer regarding his termination.
During a press conference held at the Punjab Governor’s House on June 30, where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with Federal ministers Ishaq Dar and Marriyum Aurangzeb, was addressing the media, Chaudhry raised concerns about undisclosed restrictions imposed on the media and asked when these restrictions would be lifted.
As a representative of the journalist community in the country, Chaudhry brought attention to the widespread bans on media outlets across Pakistan, emphasizing that the current period is marked by the strictest limitations on press freedom.
The journalist urge Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to provide specific details on when and how the media constraints would be lifted, highlighting the contradiction between the claims of political parties, such as PML-N and PPP, regarding their support for freedom of expression and the actual situation on the ground.
In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif distanced himself from endorsing any restrictions and advised the journalist to raise his concerns with the information minister, stating that if he had valid points, he should voice them.
Although the Prime Minister did not delve into the past events, he acknowledged that the circumstances leading to the journalist’s dismissal were widely known. Shehbaz assured Chaudhry that his legitimate concerns would be addressed.
